Mac, PC, Leopard, Vista, Lust, Hype and Love

It was a long struggle. I was undecided between a Mac and a PC. This was probably somewhere back in Aug'07, when I realized that Sara has not been reading any of my emails.

Just about a little more than a year before that, I sold off my desktop PC. We were all relying on my 'free but restricted' corporate laptop. It was given free to me to use, but highly restricted. I don't even have Yahoo! Messenger on it. And it even ran a 'Corporate' licensed Skype version, which was deprived of cool emoticons.

Anyway, other than Sara's illiteracy on the concept of Instant Messaging, it was clear that I needed to buy a computer for the house. My instant choice was a Mac. Superb design. Practically virus-free. All made more amusing with its Mac-PC internet ads. I wanted it. But the forum buzz was that the new all-alu Mac and Leopard OS will be out somewhere in Oct'07. Goodie, I had 2 months for further research.

I started to play buddy with Apple's software. I downloaded the Windows version of Safari and iTunes. I started to fiddle with my sister's MacBook and spent more time adventuring my brother's Mac. I struggled.

See, back in '04, I had a Palm T3 PDA. At its time, it was THE PDA. It was ahead of time. Windows Pocket PC was a rookie. Or so I thought. Until a friend got a Toshiba PPC. It blew my head off to know that the bloody PPC could actually multi task! And what's more, there was so much more adjustability that I could play around with. Yes, Palm was uber-friendly, but it was just not me. In short, I sold off the Palm within 2 weeks and got myself an IPAQ 4150, which is still functioning well today and is of necessity to Marsha's boredom.

I know there's a lot of Apple fan out there, in fact, I'm one of them too. Just a fan. When iPod was the craze, my simplistic logic got the worse of me and I failed at running iTunes software. So, I never bought an iPod. And bought a Windows friendly 30Gb Creative instead.

When the new Leopard Mac was released, I was first to stick my butt in an Apple store. It was lovely. Mac 20" was selling at RM5.6K with protection plan. I immediately sold some of my stocks, ready to fund it. I returned to the shop a few times to play with it. Damn. It was a struggle each time. Though my friends were mighty impressed when I played some video stuff on the demo machine, courtesy from my time with my siblings' Tiger OS, I was actually sweating my brains out to comprehend Apple's interface. Damn Windows, you've brain-washed me to the last noodle.

Vista was out around that time too. Windows were not too shy to show once again that, what they lack in Apple's innovation, they thrived in creative-duplication. They wanted to be a Leopard. They wanted to be a Mac. And just like the Palm and PocketPC dilemma; Vista was a much familiar sight to me. And it's much cheaper too.

So, the headaches ended by end '07 when I decided that I was not ready for a Mac yet. I finally bought a Vista PC in Jan'08. It was an Core 2 Duo Acer Mac Mini wannabe in iPod piano black. It's got 1Gb RAM - which, I'd like to stress here - is not enough to run a Home Vista. I soon upgraded it to 3Gb, and it's just lovely now.

In my denial state of mind, I dressed up my PC like a Mac. I bought a Samsung Crystal-Brite 22 incher and Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse. I even reduced the Microsoft factor by using Firefox, instead of IE. 3 months on, I'm beginning to love this machine.

Just now, I dropped by Apple store again, to check out the 32Gb iPod Touch and Macbook Air. And when I shouldered over to check out a 20" Mac; the love was gone. There was not a minute of lust on it anymore. My Vista turned up to be the best choice for me and my hommies. And I even managed to keep RM1K in balance too.

Man, this is probably the longest blog I've written in a long while. And, I know, you skipped almost everything and is reading this line. So, I'll save you the time and state my point here: If you're running Vista, 1Gb RAM is NOT enough.

14th February; a very special day

This is a very special day for me. It was 6pm in the cold Oregon winter back in 2005. Just as I was about to log-off from my office, an IM came in from a friend; “Mariam dah takde” (“Mariam is gone”).

I just froze. Mariam was my 2yr old baby, whom I missed so much during my travel, and was just 1 wk away until I’m back in M’sia. I broke down terribly. I took the first flight out but it was a long 36hr journey back home. The load was made heavier as 3-quarter of my luggage was nothing else but the clothes and shoes I bought for Mariam. These stuff, I’d lay them down all over my hotel's room, every single night and smiled to myself, imagining just how cute Mariam would look like in it. It was a long tough journey.

Back in M’sia, it was early morning of 15th February. Sara had a motherly instinct and decided not go to work. And when Mariam peacefully departed, she was in her mother's loving cuddle. Hundreds of people came moments later, only to find Mariam, still in Sara’s cuddle. It was hard to let go. And it was Tuesday. The day I was born.

I reached Malaysia on Thursday morning. Sara fetched me at the airport, with only 3mth old Marsha to keep her company. She didn’t want anyone else to be there. And when we met, it was our moment. We just hugged and did not speak a word. At that moment, deep inside, I still had a tint of denial. I still wish this whole thing was a dream. That was 3 years ago. And we still miss her terribly.

We love you so much.

Buffalaxed!

Check out Buffalax's vids over in Youtube (just do a search on 'Buffalax'). All the while, it was English, duh!

2008... and still blogging actively...

OK, maybe not as 'active' as some people, but in comparison to >80% of bloggers who mysteriously went AWOL after 2 posts, I'm doing great. It's hard to believe that, in the world where there's no such thing as a 'free lunch', Blogger has let me use their space for free for more than 2 years. Thank you, Mr Blogger. I'm very sure Mr Blogger despises me. I'd probably be the kid with the black tee and torn jeans. What Mr Blogger doesnt know is that, I'm the good guy. My blogs are clean and boring. Blogs like these must always be kept free. It'll make people stop reading blogs and get back to work. ......

Anyway, HAPPY NEW YEAR, sincerely from me, me wife and me kid! May 2008 brings better luck to you. *pls ignore Marsha's angry expression, inside, she's happy, really*

One Liners

We noticed that Marsha is tall now. She can now reach the medicine box in the fridge. We noticed this when she said "eee, ubat pink tak shedaapppp".

I just realized that I look very gay in my Skype profile pic. That explains the IMs from strangers.

I'm updating these one-liners coz I got calls for not updating my blog. There, it's updated now.

Satisfying 60,000 Fans

Last Tuesday's match between Arsenal and Slavia Prague will definitely go down in my book as a 'very special' match. Though Arsenal demolished the travelling opponent by 7 goal margin, all 60,000 fans, both Arsenal and Prague, in the stadium, went back home in a special magical disbelief and emotional state of mind - they all know that they've just witnessed the best football match of the year, or for many more years to come.

Well, don't just take my word for it, read on...
http://blogs.reuters.com/soccer/2007/10/24/awesome-arsenal-restore-faith-in-beautiful-game/

Space, Gravity, Mars & Malaysian Astronouts

As we are enjoying our self-greed to pollute Earth and bring it to its death, a simple solution for life’s continuity is simply to pack-up and head for Earth 2.0. And with Mars being the perfect match to earth’s geology, a hijra’ must be planned. But it’s a long journey, about 200 years of travel, hyperspace or not. And naturally, the list of ‘things to do’ needs to be prepared.

First of, can we live for 200yrs without Gravity?

Gravity is THE most important thing on earth. Water, fire, earth and wind mean nothing without gravity. Our muscles, brain development and 5 senses are all developed in existence with gravity.

Astronauts lost huge masses of muscle when in G zero. By the 4th year in G0, the bones get so brittle; it’ll break into pieces as soon it hit gravity. So, list of ‘things to do’ #1 – emulate gravity in the mother ship.

Now, can we give birth without gravity? They tried with quail eggs. It didn’t hatch in space. So, for a journey where we’d expect our children’s children to make it to Mars, this is not looking good. Then they tried with mice too. Took the pregnant ones into space for few weeks, bring it back to earth for delivery – and guess what – the little newbie mice’s brain could not recognize orientation. So, even if we could find a way to deliver babies in G0, we gotta fix this, mainly to avoid our offsprings from failing the Martian’s sobriety test. So, that’s “things to do” #2.

Hmm, the list goes on and on; like the space suits, cosmic radiation, psychological effects, human conflicts and etc… but just the 2 items above already causing the brainiacs in MIT headaches.

Anyway, hip-hip hurrah for our Malaysian astronaut, Sheikh Muszaphar. Note to your grandchildren: Next stop; Mars.

http://www.angkasawan.com.my/blog/